Stabbing suspect says he intended to attack school kids

Tuesday 25th March, 05:01 AM JST

MITO —

A 24-year-old man, who was arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man to death last Wednesday after a stabbing spree Sunday that left one person dead and seven injured, has told investigators that he had intended to attack a primary school and kill somebody there but abandoned the idea, police said Monday.

‘‘I thought about killing my sister, but I couldn’t find her. So, I decided to kill somebody at my old primary school but abandoned the idea because the school was crowded due to a commencement ceremony,’’ Masahiro Kanagawa was quoted as telling police, referring to his alleged murder of the first victim—Yoshikazu Miura, 72. Kanagawa was arrested Sunday on suspicion of killing Miura.

Police said Kanagawa allegedly saw Miura by chance and stabbed him in the neck from behind at the entrance of Miura’s home in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, around 70 kilometers north of Tokyo. Miura lived only 800 meters from Kanagawa’s home.

‘‘I thought about killing my sister at home, but since she was not there, it did not matter who it was. I saw Miura by chance and stabbed him,’’ Kanagawa was quoted by the Ibaraki prefectural police as saying.

‘‘I planned to kill seven or eight people,’’ Kanagawa said of Sunday’s stabbing spree in and around Arakawaoki Station on East Japan Railway Co’s Joban Line in Tsuchiura, according to the police.

Kanagawa turned himself in to police Sunday after the stabbing spree that left Takahiro Yamakami, 27, dead and seven other people injured, some seriously.

Among the seven injured, two—a 62-year-old female company worker and an 18-year-old male high school student—were in a serious condition, according to the police.

Investigations so far have shown that Miura and Yamakami were each stabbed once in the neck.

Miura was found lying stabbed at the entrance to his home Wednesday morning and was pronounced dead in hospital. His family said Miura had never met Kanagawa.

On Sunday, eight people were stabbed at around 11 a.m. in and around Arakawaoki Station. Yamakami was the last of the eight to be stabbed. The police are pursuing charges of murder and attempted murder against Kanagawa over the stabbing spree.

Kanagawa bought a kitchen knife and a survival knife before the alleged murder of Miura, police said. A few days earlier, Kanagawa withdrew almost all of the around 400,000 yen in his bank account, the police said.

A total of 170 police officers were on alert Sunday, including eight at Arakawaoki Station, following a call to police by Kanagawa on Saturday in which he suggested that he might commit a crime.

On Monday, the government expressed regret that the incident had occurred despite the mobilization by the Ibaraki prefectural police of officers at and near the scene.

‘‘We want the police to immediately examine whether there were any defects in alert systems and methods, and to show the results to the public,’’ Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said at a news conference, urging the police to draw up measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.

The Tsuchiura Police Station received several dozen calls on Monday morning criticizing the police’s failure to prevent the incident.

Latest 15 of 25 Total Comments Show All

romulus3 at 03:23 PM JST - 24th March

I always try to think of what I would do if faced with that situation. Rush the guy and attempt to stop him? I really dont know what I would do. I just walk around on medium alert. I feel sorry for those people who had their lives ruined in a few seconds by this guy.
Zorro at 03:23 PM JST - 24th March

"Stabbing spree in broad daylight despite tight security measures."

Some how I think you would support a tripling of the police force and our taxes as well. No thanks. This sort of thing does not happen nearly enough for us to get our panties in a bind. Stuff happens.
nutsagain at 04:00 PM JST - 24th March

As much as I detest this idiot police force, I have to admit the cops can hardly be blamed on this... Here's a nutter with murder on his mind and not a cop in anywhere could have done much to stop it.
lipscombe at 04:26 PM JST - 24th March

with a recent minimum of 4 random stabbings a week in the news here I'm a little on edge whenever a stranger comes too close outside nowadays. my ex girlfriend used to panic if I berated someone in the street for rude or idiotic behaviour "don't,they may have a knife".
Tatanka at 04:26 PM JST - 24th March

Correct, anyone who is determined to kill will probably suceed unless law enforcement is at the right place at the right time.
Gwnefr at 06:03 PM JST - 24th March

What a sad person hurts others to get attention,it seems to me. It is confusing to find both dead victims in one paragraph though.I understood,he killed one and regretted.If he was that freak to stab just anyone!why didn't he just stab himself and done with it? Selfish man.Now he is "known".
Taka313 at 07:08 PM JST - 24th March

Kind of weird that the murderer's name is Kanagawa and the victim's name is Miura. What are the odds of that?

Taka
romulus3 at 07:51 PM JST - 24th March

lucky sister
usaexpat at 11:28 PM JST - 24th March

He wanted to stab his sister but since she wasn't around anyone would do. What a nut job, back in the states that's why people are supporting concealed carry gun laws.
def at 01:24 AM JST - 25th March

"He wanted to stab his sister but since she wasn’t around anyone would do. What a nut job, back in the states that’s why people are supporting concealed carry gun laws."

Nice one. And that's why nut job's love the States. Imagine how much more efficient he would've been with a concealed weapon. Japan's murder rate is nowhere near the same league as America, and let's hope it stays that way.

I'm with Zorro. These things unfortunately happen.
greenteaonsens at 01:31 PM JST - 25th March

nasty little sicko - hang him by his thumbs
notimpressed at 02:44 PM JST - 25th March

looks like one of the only confession the police have got that holds water to me!!

Gwnefr:why didn’t he just stab himself and done with it?

Exactly.
Desiderata1967 at 11:03 PM JST - 25th March

For the sake of public safety, this guy should be dealt with immediately!
rajakumar at 08:17 AM JST - 26th March

Another case a person having the going berserk phenomena,it happens in many nations of the world today.

Like someone committing suicide,suddenly becoming homicidal,shooting innocent people on streets or other crimes, there may be a lot pschological/family/spiritual/other causes to berserk phenomena worldwide.
monchy at 11:26 AM JST - 27th March

I have the same thing on my mind as rajakumar stated above. I wonder what kind of things these people go through before committing these crimes. Maybe they could of been prevented. Theres gotta be a way to help them somehow...